Welcome Home
by prettyinpinkgal
Summary: Sarah's back from Great Britain, but is greeted by an angry James who won't even tell her why he's mad! So, Sarah gives him a taste of his own medicine. Will her plan work?
1. Part One

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hello! Well, I've had it in my head for, like, ever to make a Libery's Kids fanfic. I mean, seriously. How could the show's producers NOT make Sarah and James a couple? It's just...fiendish! Thank the Lord for fanfiction, lol! Anyway, this takes place when Sarah gets back from Great Britain. I hope you enjoy this:) And for all the people on the Liberty's Kids board "The Liberty Bell", you guys kinda inspired me to write this, so thank you:)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it...I don't even own any DVDs...(sobs in corner)**

**WELCOME HOME**

Sarah walked down the winding streets of the city she had grown to love. _It's so wonderful to be back home, _she thought, feeling pure bliss. Her eyes widened, then she smiled. _Yes...America really _is _my home now. _

How much things had changed! When she had first arrived in America, she felt like it would never be a replacement for Great Britain. However, she had grown to love the colonies. She loved being a journalist; hearing and seeing important events that she felt would be known for years. How many other girls her age could say they had seen battles, watched General Washington lead the troups, and hear important meetings of Congress?

But, most of all, she loved the people who were like family to her. Moses was a dear friend, and Henri was like a brother to her.

And James. What was James to her? Sarah often thought about her relationship with James, and sometimes could have sworn she felt more than friendship for him. Other times, she felt like he was an annoying pest of a friend or brother.

Sarah paused as she waited patiently for a carriage to cross. "James..." she whispered to herself. She recalled when she told him she was going back to England. He had barely spoken to her after that, even when she was bording the ship. No goodbye. No nothing.

Would James still be angry? Sarah shook her head. _A better question would be why he was angry in the first place, _she thought, a little put off. After all, what had she done wrong? What was so horrible about wanting to go back to England, to see her mother? She knew Moses and Henri were upset about her parting, but they weren't angry. So why was James so infuriated about it?

Sarah began walking down the street again, her agitation dissipating. _Well, _she tried to think optomistically. _He's a Patriot. Perhaps he was simply irritated that I was going to the enemy country. Or maybe it was the fact that back then, I was still a Loyalist. Maybe he thought that by then, I'd be a Patriot. Hmmm... _she thought, looking down at the ground, pondering the situation.

* * *

There it was. The print shop. Sarah felt both excitement and dread pulse through her veins. She was finally home, but what would the others say? Surely, she couldn't expect everyone to act normally if she was to simply walk in there, and say, "Hello! It's me again! I've decided I'm a Patriot, so I'm going to stay here again. I do hope you won't mind!" 

"That would be silly," Sarah sighed. In fact, even Moses and Henri would be a bit upset, to say the least. After all, she had left for good, supposedly. Why on earth would they accept her return? They'd think she was like a child, unable to decide which toy she wanted.

Sarah sighed again. This was going to be harder than expected.

She paused by the wooden door to the shop. After a moment, she gathered her courage and entered the print shop.

"Hello?" she called. Sarah was greeted with silence. "Is anyone here?" she called, a little louder. Still, there was no reply.

_They must be out somewhere. Maybe they're covering a new story, _Sarah thought. Setting down her bags, she wandered around the building. She ventured upstairs and saw the closed bedroom doors, feeling-for the first time in months-at home. She turned the handle to one of the wooden doors, and entered her old bedroom. It looked so cold, so empty. _Of course it's empty! I haven't been here in ages! _she thought. Still, she couldn't help feeling a bit surprised.

Sarah heard the front door open. Footsteps were heard, as well as the voice of Moses.

And James.

Her heart began to beat faster than it should. Then, she felt a sinking feeling as her fears came back. The talking downstairs had ceased abruptly, and Sarah realized it must have been because the two had caught sight of her bags.

She came closer to the stairs. _This is ridiculous! Get yourself together, Sarah Philips! _she scolded herself for being so nervous. Whatever happened to that strong, outspoken young woman she was known to be? Besides, she would rather be arrested by British soldiers and be sent to the most horrible prison for the rest of her days than to have James Hiller see her in such a state.

Before she descended down the stairs, she picked up what the two men were saying.

"--who's bags are these?" Moses asked.

"How should I know?" James replied. "But I'm guessing the person who owns them is still in the print shop."

Sarah walked down the steps, and saw the two. James and Moses looked exactly the same. While she was happy to see Moses, of course, seeing James brought entirely different emotions. Her heart pumped double-time again, and she struggled to maintain her in-control attitude.

"And you'd be right," Sarah said suddenly, answering James's statement.

The two men started, and they whirled around to see the intruder. Their eyes became wider, if possible, when they recognized her.

"Hello," Sarah said, a little quieter, waving awkwardly. _I hope they're happy to see me..._

"Sarah!" Moses bellowed, giving a tight hug to the young woman. She happily hugged back, overjoyed that she was still welcome in her old home. "What are you doing here?" he asked kindly, stopping the friendly embrace.

"Well, while it was wonderful being back with my mother, I slowly came to realize that my home isn't there anymore. It's here in America, with all of you. I'm so sorry I didn't realize it sooner."

Moses grinned and patted her head. "It's alright, Sarah. It's great to have you back."

Sarah smiled and glanced in James direction. He had been quiet throughout the reunion. Her smile began to fade when she noticed that he was in a different direction, looking angry.

"Hello, James," Sarah said to the blonde.

He glanced at her. "Hello, Miss Philips," he said with forced politeness.

James? Being _polite? _Oh, this was worse that Sarah thought! However, she felt hurt for only a moment. Then, she turned that hurt into anger.

She glared at him as she marched right up to him, leaving a dumbfounded Moses (which is rather hard to imagine, seeing as he's Moses of all people). Poking rudely at James chest, and not noticing the fact that Henri had just opened the door, she yelled, "James Hiller! I am sick of having you so furious with me! You were like this when I left, and you're _still _mad?! Well, I won't have it! I don't know what I did to deserve this, but seeing as you won't even bother having a real conversation with me, I don't even know! GAAAH!" she screamed, slamming her hands onto the nearby wooden table.

Henri slowly closed the door and ran out of the shop as Sarah panted. He had a feeling now would not be a good time to greet the redheaded girl.

Meanwhile, James was shocked, but managed to still stay angry. Moses looked shocked as well at Sarah's outburst, and the girl formed a plan in her mind.

_If James is going to still be angry with me and not bother to tell me what in the world he's even angry about, I won't speak to him either!_

**Prettyinpinkgal: Okay, this was originally a one-shot, but I wanted to split it into two parts, so I guess it's a two-shot? Well, anyway, please review! Oh, and I apologize for any OOCness!**_  
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	2. Part Two

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hope you guys are enjoying this so far! To all three of my reviewers, thank you so much:) Here's Part Two.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Liberty's Kids. Sorry.**

**WELCOME HOME**

**PART TWO**

Well, it went without saying that Sarah would be staying with Moses, Henri, and James (whether the blonde liked it or not). About an hour or so after Sarah's outburst, Henri decided it was safe to enter the print shop and hugged Sarah tightly. Sarah hugged back. It was good to be home.

That is, it would have been, if a certain blonde wasn't still angry at her, which caused her to be furious with him.

Moses pondered about what he should do about the fighting teens. He couldn't treat them like children and make them say "sorry" to one another.

Seperating them wouldn't do either. Even if Moses assigned them to cover different stories, the two would be forced to see each other any other time, like at the dinner table.

So, Moses decided that they needed to solve their issue by themselves. And what a better way than by forcing them to have quality time together.

* * *

It had been three days since Sarah had arrived back in Ben Franklin's print shop. Three very, _very _long days. 

Sarah had been sticking to her plan. She ignored James as much as possible. It was obvious that annoyed him, but James kept ignoring Sarah as well. The redhead thought about simply giving up on her plan, but her stubborness made her continue with it. After all, confrontation with James hadn't worked. At least this way, he would end up being so annoyed, he'd HAVE to explain himself.

Sarah thought all this as she chewed on her breakfast. When everyone was done, she went and cleaned up the plates.

"Sarah, James, now that you two are done, could you do me a favor and get some more ink? I'd appreciate it," Moses suddenly said.

"Sure Moses. I'll do it," James replied, obviously suggesting he'd do it by himself.

"I'd like the both of you to go, if it's no trouble, Sarah," Moses said, turning to the girl.

Sarah didn't want to be alone with James, but she agreed.

"I'm going too!" Henri announced.

"Henri, I need you here to help me...er...edit some stories," Moses replied quickly.

James and Sarah immediately thought of the same idea, and protested that Henri could help Moses later. After some more made-up reasons on Moses's part, Henri was forced to stay at the print shop.

_Ah, well, _Sarah thought, trying to be optomistic. _Perhaps this won't be as awkward as I think it'll be._

* * *

The two teens walked down the busy streets of Philadelphia, neither speaking to the other. It bothered both of them to a great extreme, but they were too stubborn for their own good. 

It was a long walk to and fro the ink shop, which made the walk even worse.

Finally, after what seemed like years of awkward silence, James had enough. Whirling around, James demanded angrily, "All right, Sarah. You've had your fun. Now could you _please_ quit it?!"

Sarah was shocked that he finally approached her about it, but she wasn't through with him yet. "No."

"Why not?" James cried, exhasperated.

Sarah's temper flared against her will. "Don't you care about anyone except yourself? You're whining about me ignoring you for only three days, and you've been angry with me for _months! _How do you think _I _feel, James Hiller?!" To her disgust, she found that tears were starting to form in her eyes. She quickly looked away and began rapidly blinking in an effort for them to disappear, but it only caused them to fall from her eyes and streak down her cheeks.

She felt better, now that she was speaking to James, whether she was yelling at him or not. Ignoring James was one of the hardest things she had to do. While she was angry at him for being angry at her for no apparent reason, she was also extremely hurt. It was not the type of hurt that Sarah would expect from having someone angry at her, whether it was her good friend or not. She felt like her heart was being ripped not just in half, but in millions of tiny pieces.

Realization dawned on Sarah. Of course! The reason why the hurt was so extreme was because James wasn't a friend; he was something...more.

A blush immediately appeared onto Sarah's face. There had been signs for some time that she thought of James as something more than a friend, but this was the first time she truly realized it.

These events occured in a matter of seconds, while they seemed to happen in slow motion. Sarah noted as tears continued to stubbornly glide down her face that James made no motion towards her, nor said a word.

Sarah wiped her eyes. "Um, please forget I said anything. I'm sorry for acting like this," she said, hating the fact that her voice cracked.

Before she could continue, Sarah felt two arms turn her around and embrace her. She gasped and blushed even more when she realized those arms belonged to James.

"I'm sorry." The words shocked her. Before she could say anything, James continued. "I wasn't really mad at you; I was just...angry about the fact that you were leaving. I thought...I thought you would just forget about us...forget about me." Sarah noticed the embarrassment in his face, but wondered why he didn't loosen his embrace, even though he was so embarrassed.

"Th-then why ever did you stay mad when I got back?" Sarah inquired.

James answered, but it was inaudable to Sarah.

"I'm sorry?"

James let go of her and ran his fingers through his blonde hair, his face bright red. Looking away, he said loudly, "I figured you found someone in England!"

Sarah merely blinked. "What do you mean, 'found someone'?"

"I mean a suitor!"

The exclamation shocked Sarah. To James's surprise, she ended up laughing. He looked at her, bewildered, as she giggled. "I-I'm sorry," she managed to say, "but that was the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard!" Laughing harder, she grasped her sides as she shook from laughter. James looked irritated, although his face was still red.

"Why is it so ridiculous?" he demanded.

"Because I..." Sarah caught herself. She nearly said, "Because I love you." She blushed a bit and said, "Because...it just is! I never had a suitor." Taking the attention off herself, she inquired, "Why do you care so much, anyway?"

"W-well, I...oh, never mind!" James cried, as he hurried to get to the ink shop.

"Wait a moment, James! Tell me! Please! James!!" Sarah called. Then she smiled to herself. If what she thought was true, then maybe there was a chance that James was attracted to her, somewhat. _I hope so, _she thought wistfully.

When she caught up to James, she decided to stop badgering him. "Sarah?" James asked.

"Yes?"

"...Welcome home." Sarah looked at him, and saw his eyes twinkle. Sarah smiled.

"It's good to be home, James."

**Prettyinpinkgal: And that's it! I hope you enjoyed it, and I'm sorry that the characters ended up a bit OOC. Reviews would be much appreciated! Thanks!**


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